00:44 - ApothecaryI never saw the appeal of Pallbearer. Ok music, but not worth the enormous praise they've been getting by some. Didn't ever impress me much on album and when I saw them live with Deafheaven I wasn't really won over either

We all know these doom pioneers have been around for over twenty years now, but for the first time Cathedral have released a double album, in the form of The Guessing Game.

The music contained on these two discs is as colourful and artistic as the cover art, Cathedral have always been a little fruity and this latest offering is no different. This is doom metal meets psychedelic rock and progressive punk, and a bunch of various other elements thrown in there for good measure. The Guessing Game isn't as crushingly heavy as the band have been in the past, but there are still plenty of riffs on this doom-a-thon to get your head behind.

Wonderful album, best from 2010 (for me) so far, probably one of the greatest of the year...

Specting a staff review soon

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----member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/

It's makes sense as Cathedral would (Wacky but cool). I Agree with the riff's comment above but I would say it sounds a bit cleaner than a few of their last albums. Same kinda clean (for everything but the bass) that Ethereal Mirror and Carnival Bizarre had going with the same sort of writing imagination. I also hear a bit of the feel of Caravan beyond redemption in here too.

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!J.O.O.E.!Account deleted

02.06.2010 - 09:07

!J.O.O.E.!Account deleted

Still reigning as my favourite album of the year. It makes me not care about the rest of Cathedral's back catalogue. There may be a couple of duds but the strong tracks cover over them pretty much.

So many influeces..even in the lyrics. And the cover is simply amazing. I really apreciated the prog-orientet passages; but less the doom flavour to it; like those two influeces could have resulted in something even better...

The good songs on this album are very good but I feel it's quite inconsistent overall. When the prog influences work out, the result is absolutely beautiful, but they do get a bit clunky at times and at those times detract from the quality.

This is definitely my album of the year. There is a couple of weak-ish songs, but the rest of the album is so immense it's like that doesn't even matter. "Cats, Incense, Candles & Wine" is so quirky, and such a wonderful song. I also get the feeling Lee is a fellow cat lover from the lyrics. lol xD

On the flipside, "Requiem For The Voiceless" shows they are still highly adept in creating slow, mournful, monstrous and menacing doom. The lyrics about animal cruelty just gives the song an even more unsettling edge. Definitely one of, if not the highlight of the album.

There's so much creativity and imagination on this album that it's just staggering. But its still great to see them just do a heads-down rocking, stoner-doom stomper like "The Casket Chasers" as well!

This album is rather bizarre, but in a good way. It's obvious on songs such as 'Funeral of dreams' and 'Cats, incense, candles and wine' that the weird, 70s Prog Rock influences are used to full effect, but the band still sound very doomy and heavy when considering 'Casket chasers' and 'Death of an anarchist'. In my eyes Cathedral have always been a bit experimental with their sound, but on this album they really take it to a new level. 'Painting in the dark' seems a bit too long for its own good and 'Ghost galleon' is a bit boring towards the end, but this is simply another example of Cathedral's long-standing musical talent.

I remember I listened to this album in its release and after that searched em a while. I consider this effort as their best but it is a very difficult music for no-listerers of the genre.

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!J.O.O.E.!Account deleted

11.03.2016 - 15:01

!J.O.O.E.!Account deleted

Forgot how good this actually is. Was the first warm (ish) day I've felt in a while, and happened to be out with a nice ale in my hand when this came on. Poifect. Shame the follow up album was such a mediocre retreading of older styles.